Every business should have a monthly closing process to ensure all transactions that occurred throughout the entire month are captured and reviewed.  Implementing such a process will keep your business running smoothly, on solid information.

It’s never good when you think your business is earning money, only to find out later that you never added your credit card bank feed and have large purchases unaccounted for or invoices from customers that need to be paid but were missing in your accounting software!

So, to stay on track throughout the year, try using this end of month bookkeeping checklist to implement a monthly closing process for your business.    

End of month Bookkeeping Checklist:       

1.  Are all of your bank accounts reconciled to the end of statement balance?

Do you have any uncleared transactions that need to be fixed, like old outstanding checks?    

2.  Is your credit card account reconciled to the end of the statement balance?

Do you have uncleared transactions that need to be duplicates or a vendor who didn’t run your card yet?

3.  Have all of your customers been invoiced?

Do you have any outstanding balances that need to be collected?

4.  Have your vendors turned in their bills on time?

Obtain statements from each vendor to make sure nothing is missed.

5.  Have your employees turned in their time and expenses?

Get receipts from all employees to preserve tax write off support.

6.  Have any new contracts been executed that you need to plan for cash flow?

Do you have any big purchases that should be added to the budget?  Analyze your inventory. 

Do you have the right mix of products to get you through the next season, sale or month?

7.  What compliance reports are necessary this month?

Payroll reporting?

Sales tax reporting?

Estimated tax payments?

Bank compliance?    

8.  Are all management reports completed?

Profitability by product/project are good reports to run on a monthly basis.

9.  Did you run an income statement for the month?

Compare it to the previous months.  What trends do you see?  Is revenue up or down?  Are your expenses up or down?  Do you know why? What needs to be addressed?

10.  Did you run an end of the month balance sheet?

Are all accounts reconciled?  Do you know what each line item is and when it should be resolved? Incorrectly entered activity can be detrimental to your reporting and making ill informed decisions can be costly.

Wrapping it all up

Using a system, process or checklist to close out your books at the end of every month provides consistent financial reporting for your business, providing you with a more accurate picture of your business’s financials.

It’s easier to prevent costly mistakes and to prepare for tax time if you consistently use a monthly closing system.  Accurate and timely reports can help you to gather the data you need, to make better financial decisions throughout the entire year.

So, get started today, by grabbing our end of month bookkeeping checklist for free!  Just click, download, and print!  Use it to implement your own end of month closing process and to keep your business goals right on target!